What matters is what’s said — not how
Among the more fascinating details — and there are many — to come out in the recent Theranos coverage is the allegation that its young founder, Elizabeth Holmes, faked her baritone voice.
In “The Dropout,” a gripping podcast about the rise and fall of Theranos, a Stanford University professor recalled how Holmes’ voice deepened from the time they first met to their next meeting. A former employee of the disgraced blood-testing company recounted how Holmes fell out of character after a few drinks, exposing her true voice.
In John Carreyrou’s masterful “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup,” another former Theranos employee also witnessed a lapse, in which Holmes’ voice pitched higher in excitement. He surmised “there was a certain logic to her act: Silicon Valley was overwhelmingly a man’s world. The VCs were all male and he couldn’t think of any prominent female startup founder. At some point, she must’ve decided the deep voice was necessary to get people’s attention and be taken seriously.”
Taken seriously enough for her startup to reach a valuation of $9 billion.
TMZ reported that her family insists that Holmes’ voice is naturally low. All this talk about her voice has made me ponder vocal fry, which is characterized by speaking at a lower pitch, but with a creaking sound, a sort of growl produced by constricting the larynx.
In recent years, this manner of speaking has been under attack, particularly if you’re a...